Shrimati Radharani is the eternal consort of Lord Krishna. Five thousand years ago, when Lord Krishna came to this planet to perform His pastimes, Shrimati Radharani also appeared. The following is adapted from a lecture by His Holiness Varshana Swami:

"On a half-moon night in the month of Bhadra, King Vrishabhanu came to the Jamuna to bathe and found himself engulfed in a golden aura, the golden aura of pure love. It was emanating from a lotus, which had a baby girl standing on its whorl. When the king returned to the palace with the baby, Queen Kirtida was delighted. She was also shocked that the girl was blind.

"Lord Krishna's mother, Yashoda, heard that her best friend Kirtida had a baby, so she came to visit along with her husband and her son. Krishna crawled up to the cradle and pulled Himself up and looked in. At that moment, Shrimati Radharani's eyes fluttered and opened wide and blossomed like lotuses. It seems that she did not want to see anything of this world, only the form of Shri Krishna. Everyone was delighted.

"Shrimati Radharani is the mother of the universe, the spiritual mother of all souls. And the concept of mother is the most sacred symbol—that of purity, selflessness, caring, sharing, nurturing, and love. That is why our sacred mantra is the holy names. It is the holy names in the vocative. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

"'Hare' means 'Radhe.' It is a plaintive, desperate cry for the mother. 'Radhe! Please wake us up from this nightmare of mortal life! Remind us of the father we have forgotten and take us home!'"

"Hare" means crying out to Radhe in the following mood of Shrila Raghunatha dasa Goswami:

TRANSLATIONO Shri Radharani, the queen of Vrndavana, with the medicine of the red lac from Your lotus feet, please bring back to life this person now dead from the bites of the black snake of not seeing You. (Vilapa-kusmanjali)

In Krishna consciousness, devotees carefully worship Shrimati Radharani as the bestower of devotional service to Krishna, by attentively chanting Her name in the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra, by worshiping Her deity form, and by following and preaching the Holy Names and the Instructions of the most merciful Shri Gauranga Mahaprabhu, who is the combined form of Shri Radha and Shri Krishna.